K-P to 'surgically audit' healthcare performance

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has ordered the 'surgical and clinical audits' of medical centres in the province, and the improvement of the overall quality of healthcare delivery across the province.

A meeting, chaired by Gandapur, was held on Wednesday at the Chief Minister's Secretariat in Peshawar. The meeting focused on the Healthcare Commission and Directorate of Drug Control and Pharmacy Services.

Detailed briefings were given on their objectives, performance, challenges, and plans. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister's Adviser on Health Ehtesham Ali, Health Secretary Adeel Shah, Health Services Director General Dr Muhammad Saleem, Drug Control Director General Dr Abbas, and Healthcare Commission CEO Dr Nadeem.

The CM directed the K-P Healthcare Commission to develop and implement a plan to improve the quality of healthcare services in the province.

He instructed the commission to conduct surgical and clinical audits of healthcare centres and register all remaining undocumented facilities.

The CM emphasised working according to specific timelines to achieve targets and holding regular review meetings to monitor progress.

He also ordered the immediate recruitment of staff to address workforce shortages in the Healthcare Commission. Furthermore, he directed strict action against healthcare centres providing substandard medical services.

Gandapur instructed the Directorate of Drug Control to establish at least one mobile drug testing laboratory at each divisional headquarter and fill vacant pharmacist positions in public hospitals.

During the briefing, the CEO of the Healthcare Commission highlighted that 18,911 healthcare centers have been registered to date.

"An online portal and simplified procedures have been introduced for registration. Over the past two and a half years, a total of 38,443 healthcare centers have been geo-tagged, and licensing assessments for 159 centers have been completed," he said. He added that during the same period, temporary licences were issued to 317 centers, while 54 received full licencing.

The commission received 3,006 complaints during the last two and a half years, out of which 2,839 were resolved, reflecting a 94% resolution rate. Additionally, inspections were conducted at 10,085 centers, resulting in 2,606 notices being issued and 2,062 centres being sealed.

Regarding cases of quackery, 1,523 cases were heard, fines were imposed on 1,189 centres, and 763 centers were completely sealed. The commission also organised training for staff from 835 public and private hospitals.

The Drug Control DG reported that 13,928 pharmacies have been inspected this year. A total of 1,977 medicine stocks were confiscated, and 8,493 samples were collected for quality testing.